The resolution “infringes upon the constitutional authority of the President as Commander in Chief by imposing an artificial timeline to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq, regardless of the conditions on the ground or the consequences of defeat,” the White House statement said. “The legislation would hobble American commanders in the field and substantially endanger America’s strategic objective of a unified federal democratic Iraq that can govern, defend, and sustain itself and be an ally in the war on terror.”

The Congress can declare war, and it did, thus fully empowering the president to conduct it as he sees fit.

The Congress can choose not to fund the war, which it will not do because it fears the public’s certain wrath.

But the Congress cannot manage the war, anymore than the Congress of 1944 could have dictated when and where the invasion of Europe would occur.

This is not a difficult problem, and no number of floor speeches or op-eds will diminish the naked attempt by Senate Democrats to nullify the Constitution’s clear structure. The GOP was wise to allow this debate to begin, and the public should follow it closely.